CEO of aitos.io Shares Insights on Blockchain and IoT Innovation at Climber FinTech Founders Chat

Macao, China — Recently, BEYOND EXPO 2023 was held at the Venetian Macao Convention Center. Leo Lin, CEO of aitos.io, , attended a Climber FinTech Founders Chat to discuss the transformative potential of IoT and blockchain in the context of climate action and sustainability. The roundtable was moderated by Yafu Zhao, Head of Climate FinTech at NewEnergy Nexus. Over the past 20 years, NewEnergy Nexus has been focused on exploring the ways in which digital technologies can contribute to decarbonizing the economy and has been dedicated to building a climate tech ecosystem, channeling funds into carbon neutrality through climate funds, incubators, and other means. As one of the potential stocks in the climate finance field that NewEnergy Nexus has high hopes for, Leo Lin, representing aitos.io, introduced the latest technological achievements and case studies of blockchain and IoT integration innovation in the field of climate finance.

The purpose of this roundtable discussion was to explore how digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and blockchain, can contribute to climate finance. Leo Lin shed light on the core value of IoT and blockchain technologies in terms of efficiency, transparency, and security in climate data and climate finance transactions. He emphasized their significant role in accelerating the development of distributed renewable energy. Leo also analysed the current challenges and risks in climate finance and introduced the future development direction that aitos.io is focusing on. Overall, Leo is confident in the potential business opportunities of blockchain and IoT in climate action and sustainable development. He pledged to collaborate with ecosystem partners to create trusted carbon data solutions, promote the transition to clean energy, foster the development of the carbon market, and contribute to a more sustainable future. Below are some excerpts from the dialogue.

Q1: How can blockchain and IoT improve the efficiency, transparency, and security of climate data and climate finance transactions, particularly in carbon offsetting and renewable energy projects?

Leo Lin: Climate fintech plays a crucial role in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, and one important aspect is providing the necessary financial support for companies during this transition period. It is important to recognize that building clean energy infrastructure involves significant capital expenditure (CAPEX) that requires continuous financial support from financial institutions, banks, and investors. These stakeholders need reliable digital tools to assess risks and manage real world assets(RWA) in these areas. I emphasize that for effective risk management, climate fintech innovation increasingly relies on digital technologies to participate in real-time reporting, auditing, and monitoring of companies’ first-hand data, ensuring the value and security of assets. Blockchain and IoT technologies are precisely such digital technologies, and their combination can effectively enhance the efficiency, transparency, and security of climate data and financial transactions. By uploading first-hand data collected by IoT devices to a blockchain distributed ledger, it provides a trusted and immutable record that can verify climate data. For example, data from renewable energy projects can be leveraged to generate additional business value, such as carbon credits (CCER/CDM) or renewable energy certificates (RECs), thereby incentivizing the transition to clean energy through market mechanisms.

Q2: How can blockchain and IoT provide financial innovation opportunities for small-scale renewable energy projects? What are some specific implementation scenarios?

Leo Lin further discussed the key role of blockchain and IoT in enabling climate finance fintech innovation for small-scale renewable energy projects. He highlighted the approach of integrating blockchain functionality into existing digital solutions, allowing climate data to be accessed and shared comprehensively and reliably throughout its lifecycle. By leveraging IoT and blockchain, trust, transparency, and accountability in environmental initiatives can be enhanced, empowering individuals and communities and helping small-scale renewable energy projects with accessibility in the carbon market. When it comes to specific implementation scenarios, Leo shared some innovative practices of IoT+blockchain integration in the development of distributed photovoltaic (PV) data assets. Currently, centralized PV power plants typically have sufficient budgets to deploy comprehensive digital solutions, but the development of data assets in distributed PV, such as solar panels on residential rooftops and household energy storage batteries, is not as extensive. Despite these assets generating electricity, much of the related data remains largely undeveloped. The main barriers hindering the development of these data assets are costs, whether it is the manpower required for remote deployment and long-term maintenance of scattered residential rooftops, or the sophisticated deployment of IoT-based digital solutions, which all require significant investment. Consequently, even though distributed renewable energy resources account for a considerable portion of the overall energy mix, and a significant proportion of global solar power generation comes from these distributed PV devices, this market with tremendous business opportunities has not received sufficient attention. The emergence of IoT+blockchain technology provides a fresh perspective for climate fintech innovation in distributed renewable energy resources. By transforming PV inverters distributed at the network edge, enabling direct uploading of generation data to the blockchain network from the source, a real-time and trustworthy market for renewable energy data can be rapidly established.

Q3: How to address the challenges and risks associated with blockchain and IoT in climate fintech? Looking ahead, which groundbreaking applications of blockchain and IoT have the potential to have a significant impact on climate action and sustainable development?

Leo Lin emphasized the importance of establishing standards and frameworks, investing in digitalization, and demonstrating return on investment (ROI). He highlighted the crucial role of collaboration and information sharing among stakeholders in addressing these challenges and unlocking the full potential of blockchain and IoT in climate fintech. Looking ahead, Leo expressed enthusiasm for groundbreaking applications of blockchain and IoT, particularly the concept of “Regenerative Finance” (ReFi), which aims to tokenize traditional carbon assets, enhancing liquidity, transparency, and accessibility in the carbon market. These innovative applications have the potential to revolutionize climate action and sustainability.

Leo pointed out that in the post-pandemic era, there is a growing commitment from enterprise customers towards carbon neutrality and ESG. aitos.io will continue to invest its advantageous resources and collaborate with ecosystem partners to support government and enterprise clients in achieving their net-zero goals through digitalization.

In conclusion, Leo’s participation in the Climber FinTech Founders Chat provided valuable insights into the transformative role of blockchain and IoT in driving climate finance and sustainability. The event fostered discussions on the future of digital technologies in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and innovation in tackling global environmental challenges.

To watch the complete panel video, simply click on the YouTube link provided below.